


Transformations

by Catnado



Category: Whitechapel (TV)
Genre: Animal Transformations, Cat!Erica, Curses, Dog!Kent, Fairy Tale Based, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Sleeping Beauty Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 03:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10527582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catnado/pseuds/Catnado
Summary: Kent turns into a dog in front of Chandler's eyes. Then things get really confusing. Fluff/humor.





	1. Chapter 1

Joseph Chandler was expecting an ordinary day as he turned into the parking lot. Their last case was seemingly straightforward, a fight in the street between two drunk men that ended in a near fatality when one of them pulled a knife. Witness accounts and the surveillance video were unanimous about the events so the only reason it qualified as a case was that the one with the knife had fled. 

As he rechecked to make sure his car was locked, he saw Kent getting off his bike and taking off his helmet at the other end of the lot. He'd just opened the station door when a movement caught the corner of his eye and he turned, just in time to see Kent fall as suddenly and limply as if he'd been shot.

Chandler ran toward him without a single conscious thought. But when he stood over where he'd seen Kent fall, he still couldn't think. Kent's clothing lay on the ground in perfect order, shoes then socks then trousers then jacket, but empty, except for a large lump in the middle of the jacket. The lump started to wriggle toward Chandler and he blinked in utter bewilderment at the dark, curly-haired terrier that emerged from underneath the jacket.

Clearly it was a dream. The terrier sat, cocked its head, and looked at Chandler with an expectant air, tail wagging slightly. Nothing happened and Chandler felt this rather anticlimactic. "What have you done with Kent?" he asked, evenly. After all, since this was a dream, there was no reason that the dog shouldn't answer.

Instead, the terrier looked at him, raised one paw, and pointed at itself. Maybe some tiger balm would make the situation easier to interpret. As the sharp smell permeated his sinuses, it felt rather too real. Chandler pinched himself as he put the jar back in his pocket. High time he stopped the dream before it became any odder. The first pinch didn't work so he repeated it, more sternly, ordering himself to wake up.

Nothing changed. The normal sounds of traffic, a slight breeze, the smell of frying from a nearby cafe, the cooling tingle of the balm on his forehead all remained disconcertingly realistic. "Where is Kent?" he asked again, more sternly. The dog again pointed to itself. Was that an element of reproach in those brown eyes? 

"Kent!" he roared. "This is NOT acceptable! This is NOT acceptable conduct for a detective constable!" The dog promptly whined and retreated, tail between its legs, under the nearest car, where it whined again.

Yelling at his subordinates was one thing. Yelling at a dog, though, that made him uncomfortable. He crouched to look under the car, and saw the dog was making itself as small as possible. He drew three calming breaths.

"Kent?" He moderated his voice. The dog crept closer, somehow still keeping its head on its front paws. If Chandler could have asked all the questions in his head at once, he would have, but he had to prioritize, letting simple questions out one by one. "Do you know what happened?"

The dog emerged completely and shook its head. To make sure that the dog was really answering, he asked, "If my name is Joseph Chandler, please nod." The dog promptly obeyed.

"Is today Sunday? If not, shake your head." The dog shook its head. 

Chandler closed his eyes. "All right, let's go in. Maybe Buchan can find some precedent." 

Unfortunately, Buchan wasn't yet in his underground domain and Chandler was fairly certain that there wouldn't be a clearly marked section about detective constables turning into terriers. He did read a few of the file labels on the shelves, just in case, but had to admit defeat. Kent's nails clicked on the metal of the stairs as they returned to the incident room.

Miles was there and looked sideways at the dog. "Bring a stray to work day, is it?"

"Not really. I think it's Kent." Fortunately, Kent didn't let the silence get too long, but trotted to his desk and sprang to the seat.

"Boss, are you--"

"Kent, what the--" Mansell burst into the room, a black cat with thick, wavy fur draped over his shoulder. The cat jumped down when it saw Kent, who rushed to greet it, and the two animals sniffed at one another, then each cocked its head as though asking for an explanation.

"Mansell, what is going on? Is that Erica?"

"How'd you know?" Mansell openly gaped at him. 

"Because the dog is Kent." 

"Okay, look, I woke up this morning, everything was normal, but when I got out of the shower, Erica was gone and there was just this cat. So I thought maybe Kent had done something—sorry, mate, I should have known better—and figured I'd find him here."

Mansell's phone rang and he automatically reached to answer it. "DC Mansell."

Chandler heard a very faint voice and then Mansell said, "Okay," and put the phone on speaker mode. 

"Hello, I'm Nancy, Em and Erica's aunt. I think I'd better come in and explain."

Chandler wanted to answer with the firm vigor of a man in command of the situation and of himself. Instead, he just sighed, "Please do."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aunt Nancy shows up to explain.

_Pretend that everything is normal_ , Chandler told himself. _Pretend that everything is normal. Ignore the_ _fact that_ _Mansell's girlfriend is sitting in his_ _lap_ _at work_ _._ _In cat form._ _Ignore the fact that Kent is chewing on his own shoe_ _._

Riley came in just that minute and immediately started cooing. "Awwww, whose cute little doggie?" Chandler told himself that he didn't hear Mansell and Miles both choke as she bent down to rub Kent's ears.

"That's Kent," Miles managed to get out.

She contemplated the dog for a moment, grinning. "I can see the resemblance." Before anybody else could say anything, she added, "But seriously, is he lost, poor little thing? And what's he doing here?" Her face changed. "Wait. Please don't tell me that we have to share space with the RSPCA now."

"Naw, it really is Kent. Erica's the cat." Miles jerked a thumb at her as she stretched out a paw to bat the mug of Mansell's desk. "Their auntie's coming over to explain."

Kent stretched and then shook himself and scratched himself with his hind leg. Mansell's immediate gloat of "Flea bath for you!" resulted in the dog glaring and lifting a hind leg right at Mansell's own leg.

"DC KENT!" Chandler roared and Kent paused just a microsecond before lowering his leg and haughtily jumping back into his chair. Erica, who had jumped off Mansell's lap in shock at the shout, hissed at everybody impartially.

Chandler met Miles' eye and they retreated to his office. _Is it too early to have a drink?_ _Probably._ He applied tiger balm instead, thinking it a very poor substitute.

"I've met the aunt," Miles said. "Nancy Device, her name is. I like her." Miles seemed almost relaxed, considering the situation.

"Has this happened before?"

"Not that I know of. But she must know something since she knew to call here to tell us what's going on."

"In the meantime, I was going to send Mansell and Riley out to bring Stapleton back, since the CCTV confirmed that he's hiding at his brother's, but perhaps we'd better wait." _In case they turn into domestic pets, too._ _What would Mansell turn into, anyway?_

Riley brought them tea. "I thought you'd need this," she said, sympathetically. There was an explosive sneeze from outside and she tsked as all three of them looked through the window. "Oh, dear. I think Ed mentioned once that he's allergic."

As Chandler asked Buchan to please look in the Archives for any precedents, he alternated between looking miserable before and after each sneeze and looking thrilled at the new challenge. "I'll certainly look, although I haven't come across any such cases beforehand. On the other hand, I might have overlooked them as mere superstition. This job has certainly taught me that there are more unusual things than even I could have dreamt of." He bustled off, his progress marked by the decreasing volume of each sneeze.

A uniform knocked at the entrance. "Nancy Device is here to see you, sir."

"Oh, so nice to meet you at last, I've heard so much about you." The woman who came in exuded a perfect aunt aura. Her slightly plump figure spoke of freshly-made biscuits and cups of sweet tea always available. Her casual, slightly loose-fitting cotton skirt suggested that she'd always been happy to get on the floor and play, and her warm smile and air of ease made it clear that she was more than ready to provide a comforting or congratulatory or "just because" hug. When she got closer, the glint in her eye hinted that she might also have some embarrassing story about her brother's or sister's own childhood that she'd share. Emerson and Erica confirmed this by hurrying to her. As she crouched to greet them, Erica rubbed against her leg, purring loudly, while Emerson put his front paws on her knee. "Oh, hello, my darlings, my, you make such a beautiful dog and kitty, don't you?"

The two animals reluctantly let her get up and the moment she was in a chair, Erica jumped into her lap and Emerson curled up on her feet.

"Ms. Device, you know what's going on with this?"

"Call me Nancy, love, everybody does. Oh, hello, Ray, dear, good to see you again. Finley, you're looking even more handsome than usual, how do you manage it, I wonder? And you must be Megan Riley?" Nancy beamed as though meeting Riley was one of her greatest aspirations in life. "Oh, would one of you make me a cup of tea? I'd do it, but you see..." she gestured to her populated lap and feet.

"Right away," Mansell got up. "Two sugars and milk?"

"You remembered, sweetheart!" Turning back to the others, she said, "Do all of you know the story of Sleeping Beauty? The evil fairy cursed her to die, but the others were able to ensure that she'd only fall asleep? Well, something of the same thing happened with these two. It was that Iver woman." _Perhaps not all hugs and sweets after all,"_ Chandler decided at seeing her expression. "When they turned 18, our Em and Erica would turn into monsters. My friend Marjorie Potts and my gran and I weren't able to undo it, but we were able to hold it off and make sure that they'd only turn into animals." She shook her head sadly, "Poor Em has just a little bit of psychic ability with mirrors and reflections and I think sometimes he felt the curse near him." The terrier whimpered a quiet confirmation and she rubbed his ears comfortingly. 

"So what's going to fix it, then?"  Miles asked before Chandler could.

"You have to kiss them, Ray,  with true love's kiss. "  _That can't be...oh._ "Sorry,  dear,  I couldn't resist."  She stopped laughing. "No, it's more difficult than that, unfortunately.  To place a curse, you have to contaminate something that was pure. A source of water, a piece of ground, something like that."  Chandler noticed Miles start at that and opened his mouth to ask him why, but before he could, Nancy went on. " If somebody removes the source of contamination, the person who cast the curse can't use  the purely supernatural any more.  The three of us looked for  whatever it is that she contaminated for this curse but couldn't find it.  Once we find it, these two will be back to human." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special applause to anybody who guesses where Aunt Nancy's last name and the name of her other psychic friend come from. :-)
> 
> This turned a bit longer than I thought but should be done in the next chapter.


End file.
